CO2_BioMaCaS. Development and evaluation of nanomaterials obtained from Colombian organic waste and biomass for enhanced CO2 capture and geo-storage process at shallow reservoirs conditions (e-CCS) or conventional CCS at deep reservoir conditions (CCS)

Project overview

The Paris Agreement aim for limiting warming to 1.5 C relies on the assumption that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will be broadly deployed to reach the Net-Zero emission by 2050 (IPCC 2018). Its global implementation, however, has been impeded due to technical-economic considerations related to two main stages: (1) the efficient and economic separation of CO2 from the process flue gas, using absorbent solids-at present on-surface separation represents 70-80% of the total cost of CCS projects. and; (2) the injection of the captured CO2 in deep geological deposits (> 800 m). The PI team, Phenomena Surface-Michael Polanyi research group, has recently discovered an enhanced configuration of CCS (e-CCS) that has a number of advantages. In the novel concept, the entire industrial flue gas stream is injected directly into a reservoir, and the selective separation of the CO2 is carried out in-situ underground into much shallower reservoirs (< 300 m). Successful application of e-CCS requires large amount of absorbents at competitive cost. The proposed solution is derive them from Colombian agricultural biomass. These renewable waste products, however, that have potential to be used for carbon nanomaterials production, especially those that have a high carbohydrates content to make ideal carbon sorbents. Agriculture makes for a substantial part of the Colombian economy, impeded by the necessity for agricultural waste management. Four main tasks are proposed to develop this novel e-CCS concept: 1) the identification and characterization of carbon nanomaterials derived from agricultural waste and biomass in Colombia; 2) The evaluation of the biomass sourced material’s performance as a sorbent under e-CCS/CCS conditions, 3) The simulation of the e-CCS process at different scenarios relevant to physicochemical reservoir characteristics and initial gas conditions, and; 4) Development of an conomic, environmental and technical evaluation of e-CCS feasibility.

Project objectives

One of the proposed solutions to tackle climate change is CCS which has the potential to significantly decrease greenhouse emissions. The costs of the CO2 capture represent 70-80 % of the total cost of CCS technology, and this represents a problem for its industrial adoption. The goal of the consortium, is to evaluate the nanotechnological options to enhance CCS/e-CCS processes, and carry out the first economic and technical evaluation of the novel process. The other goal is to determine whether there is an appropriate cheap and abundant source of material in Colombia that can be converted into a suitable adsorbent on which the novel process relies. The objectives: • Develop a cost-effective alternative sorbent for e-CCS derived from Colombian agricultural waste. Agriculture is an integral part of the Colombian economy. Using a waste avoids the competition when food can have a higher economic rather than social value. These organic residues have potential in nanomaterials production, especially those wastes with a high carbohydrate content. The production of advanced materials from low-cost carbon sources could also significantly reduce the operating costs of CCS/e-CCS. • Generate knowledge and train academics and industry professionals on cutting-edge issues in CCS. The exchanges of researchers and students to strengthen the capacities of research groups and academic programs. workshops and/or courses will be organised to exchange and expand knowledge. • Completion of activities leading to impact to wider stakeholders. The workshop proposed will be open to relevant stakeholder from government, industry and public for further engagement with CCS community and to showcase the importance and feasibility of one the climate change mitigation options. Other sources of impact activities on promoting CCS and e-CCS such as publications, media presentation etc. are planned to reach out to more and wider stakeholders beyond the Colombia and the UK.

Impact statement

 A synergy between the disciplines of petroleum engineers, chemical engineers, chemists, geologists, amongst others will provide the impetus to succeed. In addition transferring the knowledge, not only to the scientific and industrial community in general, but also in the training of young new professionals in this area of research is of vital importance in the project, along with its promotion to the general public, especially rural communities in Columbia. The e-CCS process is innovative, creating a number of tenets of the work, including reservoir characterization and CO2 capture using biomass. In addition, this field of study requires huge investment of research effects from academia and other oraganisations (i.e. British Geological Survey and BEIS in the UK). This is an important socioeconomic topic with huge impact on environment, societies etc. The UK government has announced their plan to invest £1 Billion in CCS with a view to create 50,000 jobs and capture 10 MT CO2 per year by 2030. This field of study is very relevant to the following engineering branches: (i) Environmental and Petroleum Engineering (ii) Chemical Engineering (iii) Mechanical Engineering. Therefore, the growth of research and development network around this work is very likely. Once proven the e-CCS technology will be promoted to large CO2 emitting industries and legislators as an ideal means of complying with current environmental regulations. The development of materials and their application to the e-CCS processes could be extrapolated to an international level, which can benefit the exchange of experience with other partners, expanding the collaborative network, and promoting possible future projects.

Outputs

The specific outcomes are:

• Development of protocols for the synthesis of at least three nanomaterials derived from biomass.
•  Identify of ‘best-in-class materials’ including at least three of the materials developed from Colombian biomass residues for possible industrial development and commercialization.
• Evaluate the capture and storage of CO2, and oil recovery based on reservoir conditions.
• Model the oil recovery process and e-CCS based on the transport phenomena using a commercial software.
• Exchanges of researchers and students in order to strengthen the capacities of research groups, develop the skills of the research student cohort not only in technical areas related to the work by other personal development areas, all support by strong academic programs.
• Organisation of formats to activity promote the work to a wider technical and non-technical audience.
• Effective dissemination of the concept and promotion of Colombian rural sources of added value materials sources from sustainable agricultural processes through, two scientific papers, two conferences , courses (10 hours) and/or a workshop (72 hours) and three webinars (8 hours).